Jemma is my mini mute. She clearly is observing everything around her, her mind is working furiously to process everything, but she barely speaks. Her words are only recently spoken with intention, including Oma for me and Apa for her dad. Useful words. She doesn’t seem to have a word for big sister yet but the word she’s been using a lot lately, emphatically, and clearly, is Mine.

Open also gets put to work on occasion. And made-up words that nonetheless are effective, such as Noma, which means No, Oma.